Żegota

Gender: Masculine
Origin: Polish
Meaning: “burn”
(zheh-GOH-tah)

The name is derived from the Old Slavonic, zec, meaning “to burn.”

In modern day Poland, the name is extremely rare, but appeared in records as early as 1212, it is believed to have occasionally been used as a vernacular cognate of the name Ignatius, (which some sources connect to the Latin meaning, “fire”), even though its usage in Poland pre-dates Ignatius by 100 years.

In modern Polish history, it was used as a codename for the Polish Council to Aid Jews, which was an underground resistance movement in German-occupied Poland (1942-1945).

Its designated name-day is February 1.